Smoke rises as police tape surrounds the Babine Forest Products mill in Burns Lake on Jan. 21, 2012. Family members are dismayed that Crown counsel will not proceed with charges after what it described as a flawed investigation by WorkSafeBC into the sawmill explosion, which killed two men and injured 20.JONATHAN HAYWARD
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Flames rises from the Babine Forest Products sawmill shortly after the 2012 explosion.

Premier Christy Clark has ordered WorkSafeBC and the Criminal Justice Branch to improve their relationship after receiving an internal review she ordered into the deadly sawmill explosion that did not result in charges.

Clark also appointed an independent adviser, veteran Vancouver lawyer Leonard Doust, to ensure review recommendations are implemented and to add others if needed. Recommendations include improved communication, training, legal advice during investigations, and regular information meetings.

Family of the victims and the union representing workers at the mill in Burns Lake in northern B.C. dismissed the findings of the review, and reiterated a call for an independent inquiry.

The premier said Thursday there will be no inquiry.

Clark took exception with WorkSafeBC’s handling of its investigation into the Babine Forest Products explosion on Jan. 20, 2012. The wood dust-fueled explosion killed Robert Luggi Jr., 45, and Carl Charlie, 42, and injured another 20 workers.

“I am deeply disappointed with how WorkSafe conducted this investigation,” Clark told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. “WorkSafeBC should have known what was required by the criminal justice branch in order to proceed with a case to court.”

In a half-page statement issued on its website, WorkSafeBC said it would be “working quickly” toward implementing recommendations from the review.

Criminal Justice Branch spokesman Neil MacKenzie said the office supports building an “enhanced” relationship with WorkSafeBC and will also implement recommendations.

The review conducted by Clark’s deputy minister, John Dyble, concluded that WorkSafeBC paid “insufficient attention” to important legal precedents regarding the legitimate gathering of evidence for prosecutions, even though the Criminal Justice Branch had previously shared its concerns on the issue. A key ruling on regulatory investigations was handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2002.

Clark and Labour Minister Shirley Bond met with WorkSafeBC chair George Morfitt on Thursday morning to instruct the agency to carry out all the review’s recommendations.

Asked if there would be discipline meted out to WorkSafeBC officials, Clark said she didn’t know yet, but all options remain open.

The premier said she has faith in Morfitt, a former provincial auditor general, to carry out the job she has asked of him.

In announcing its decision on Jan. 10 that no charges would be laid in the Babine case, the Crown said some evidence would likely not be admissible in court because WorkSafeBC investigators had not used search warrants or warned those they interviewed of their Charter rights to remain silent. The Crown also noted the mill owners would likely have had a good argument of due diligence.

WorkSafeBC responded that it had conducted its investigation in a similar fashion for two decades, a system that had netted both charges and convictions in court.

But Dyble’s 16-page report said that WorkSafeBC was made aware of the need to consider how it gathered evidence, including in 2010 in the deadly Langley mushroom farm case.

But Dyble noted it is clear there were different views between WorkSafeBC and the Criminal Justice Branch on the interpretation of the legal precedents, and that those issues were not resolved before the Babine investigation.

Dyble also noted that WorkSafeBC had not contacted the Criminal Justice Branch for legal advice or consultation until after the investigation into the Babine explosion was complete. Discussion that began in March 2013 could not change how WorkSafeBC investigators had seized evidence or conducted interviews, said Dyble’s report.

The families of victims have already called for an independent review.

“Once again, our government failed our working people, namely our families who lost loved ones. I have no faith in our justice system or our government,” said Lucy Campbell, Charlie’s sister.

The union representing workers at the Babine sawmill say an inquiry is needed because there is a much wider problem in how investigations are conducted that include the police and other safety agencies.

“This is really the premier doing damaging control,” said United Steelworkers western director Steve Hunt.

NDP Labour critic Harry Bains said an independent inquiry is needed to “dig deep” into the Babine investigation, saying the government can’t investigate itself.

“Right now, no one trusts what’s coming out of the premier’s office,” said Bains.

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